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Brexit and Business Continuity

BREXIT / Monday 12th of September 2016

Further to our post on Brexit last week, we've been digging around looking to expand on the potential risks and opportunities that might arise due to Brexit. We found a working paper published by the Business Continuity Institute a week prior to the actual vote itself; it contains a useful view point, so we've expanded on our previous thoughts.

Our previous thoughts on BREXIT Risk and Opportunities were along the lines of:

Risks and Opportunities

Risks

Opportunities

Investment on hold: Until decisions are made, some of the decisions concerning capital projects that help to drive the cycle of trade may be on pause.

Labour: With instability in the labour markets, there may be a move for foreign labour to choose other markets

UK Market: With a renewed nationalism, perhaps the #TeamGB brand could be used on our products and services to a premium

Financial: The Exchange Rate is not great for buying from abroad, so purchasing costs are going up

New markets: Perhaps with a focus away from Europe, we could be opening up to other countries to trade with?

The BCI suggest that on top of our thoughts, the following could apply as well:

Labour: In addition to our thoughts, that the inflow of EU labour will be restricted making it less accessible and less appealing for both non-skilled and skilled workers.

Travel; Given the uncertainty of restrictions or requirements to cross borders, either the overall time to travel, or the administration associated to travel will increase, making it less cost effective.

Regulation Change; Time to understand, implement and adapt to any changes in regulation or legislation will be additional costs for organisations to bear.

Supply Chain Stability; The Stability or Complexity of supply chains may alter, requiring organisations to consider all aspects of supply. This could include changes to Bills of Materials, Specifications, Lead Times and purchasing costs.

Instability with other Nations; whilst the BCI have identified the potential for Greece to exit the EU as well, there are other potential changes if voting upsets the current situation in France and Germany next year. At the very least, the time to reach agreements will be extended.

Cyber Crime; The long term ability for the UK to participate in the field of Cyber Crime, given that there are a number of EU based agencies tackling this issue may be limited.

In terms of an overall process for managing the continuity, the BCI make some very sage points which we will explore in our next blog; what is the process that we should follow in our organisations to identify what is relevant to us, and then make the appropriate plans to manage them.